System of operation of translating mechanisms



Jan. 5, 1937.

Filed Dec. 7, 1934 W. S. LEMMON ET'AL SYSTEM OF OPERATION OF TRANSLATING MECHANISMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I on E P P INVENTOR. g 5-; ggwws. r- I- 62 ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 5, 1937. w. s. LEMMON El AL 2,066,787

SYSTEMOF' OPERATION OF TRANSLATING MECHANISMS Filed Dec. 7, 1934 2 Sheets-$heet 2 gVENTfig.

' A TTORNEYS.

FIG.2.

Patented Jan. 5, 1937 SYSTEM OF OPERATION OF TRANSLATING MECHANISMS Walter S. Lemmon and Austin Robert Noll, New

York, N. Y., assignors to International Business Machines Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 7, 1934, Serial No. 756,412

3 Claims. (Cl. 197-90) This invention relates to a system of operation of translating mechanisms, and more particularly to the operation of a plurality of translating mechanisms controlled by indicia 5 record means, and provides, broadly for indicia record control means to operate the plurality of translating mechanisms simultaneously or to operatev any one or all mechanisms independently and in succession, or selectively.

A translating system of the type above referred to is disclosed in the application for U. S.

Letters Patent Serial No. 753,254 of November 16, 1934. In said prior application one preferred form of translating system and mechanism is shown whereby several typewriting mechanisms are controlled and operated by several electrical sensing devices cooperating with several perforated master control sheets so that the mechanisms are operated individually and in succcession, and upon the completion of this operation are then operated simultaneously in accordance with the perforated representations. One control sheet controls the individual operation of the mechanisms and provides for automatically rendering it inoperative when the second control sheet is rendered operative to control the simultaneous operation of the mechanisms.

However, with the system disclosed in the said prior application it is seen that the system is limited in its flexibility, that is, the provision of extra mechanisms to be operated by the master control means requires a change in its cyclic operation, secondly, selective operation individually or simultaneously requires various circuit modifications for each separate selection desired, thirdly the provision is made for double master control operation only.

Similarly, as in the prior application referred 40 to, in the disclosure of the present invention,

for purposes of illustrating the principle of operation one type of indicia record control means will be embodied, and which is in part in the form of a tape sheet or ribbon on which characters or other indicia to be reproduced are represented by perforations to selectively operate the particular associated translating mechanisms, one form of which asshown may be a conventional typewriter. I

The present system is particularly applicable to automatic letter writer systems whereby individual letters having similar body forms may be typewritten and in addition have the addresses of the particular letters typewritten 5 automatically instead of typing them manually;

and also have dilferent insertions made in the individual letter bodies during'the typing operation of the body forms.

To accomplish this procedure automatically, one or two perforated rolls or sheets are provided, as desired. The roll or rolls control the independent operation of the individual typewriters to complete the particular addresses in a manner so that the operation of any individual typewriter for the addressing renders all the 'others inoperative during that period, in addition thereto, the typewriters may be operated selectively and not necessarily in succession. Upon the completion of typing the individual addresses the system is automatically controlled to operate all the connected typewriters simultaneously to type the common part of the letter on all the machines. During this operation it may be desired to insert in the letter bodies individual representative matter such as the individual names of the parties and then after such individual insertion continue with the com mon part of the letter body, provision is made so that an individual typewriter may be selected during the simultaneous operation of all the typewriters, and operated, and at the same time render the remaining machines inoperative. One or all of the machines may then be operated individually before continuing the simultaneous operation again.

Itis therefore one object of the present in-' vention to provide for selective operation of the associated mechanisms independently and simultaneously.

Another object of the present'invention is to provide for selective operaton of the mechanisms independently and automatic selective simultaneous operation of all the mechanisms.

Still another object of the invention is to provide for selective operation of the mechanisms independently and simultaneously upon completion of theindependent mechanism operation.

Still another object is to provide for independent operation of the mechanisms and simultaneous operation of any selected number from the plurality of associated mechanisms. v

Still another, object is to provide for selective independent operation of the mechanisms when all of them are being operated simultaneously.

Still another object is to provide automatically for successive operation of the mechanisms and the selection of one to be operated independently.

Still another object is to provide a plurality of indicia record control means for controlling the mechanisms-and rendering one inoperative when another is operative.

Still another object is to provide for a single indicia record control means to control the outlined operation of the mechanisms.

Further and other objects of the present invention will be hereinafter set forth in the accompanying specification and claims and shown in the drawings which by way of illustration is what we now consider to be the best mode in which we have contemplated applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention employing the same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and within the spirit of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram embodying a preferred form of the invention with controlling means employed therein consisting of two perforated sheets.

Fig. 2 shows a partial modification of the circuit disclosed in Fig. 1 with controlling means employed therein consisting of a single perforated sheet.

Sensing mechanism Referring to Figure 1, 8 indicates generally the preferred form of sensing device for controlling the typewriters Tl to Tl which may be of any conventional type whereby the character key bars and the corresponding type bars (not shown) are controlled by the associated solenoids CM-i to CM4 to effect printing the characters. The following brief description of the sensing device will be suflicient, since a more complete disclosure is made in the copending application Serial No. 743,208, filed September 8, 1934, and which as shown isprovided with a horizontal transverse conducting roller III which supports and feeds the elongated perforated sheet 23 designated AR as the address roll and wide enough to contain a longitudinal series of perforations for the control of each corresponding sensing brush PA and CA.

It is adapted so that the positionof a single perforation on the sheet indicates the particular character representation. Therefore when the sheet is fed continuously to the sensing device by suitable means, such as motor l2, and when the particular brush CA senses its corresponding character perforation, a solenoid CM is energized to depress a corresponding key bar and type bar to record the character corresponding to the character perforation sensed. I

A complete description of this operation will be set forth hereinafter. In addition to the character sensing brushes CA of which there are as many as character key bars to be operated by the solenoids CM, control brushes PA are provided for purposes to be explained hereinafter.

Sensing device 9 is similar in every respect to 'the device just described with the exception that there are fewer control brushes PL the purpose of which will be evident as the description progresses.

Double step relay One of the character sensing brushes CA--i or CL-i for controlling the key shift solenoid CM-IC to CM4C of the typewriters is provided to energize magnet 25 of the double step relay when sensing its corresponding perforation in the roll 23 or 24. In order to type in both upper and lowercases, it is obvious that the key shift key bar must be maintained in its respective position for the particular typing desired. Therefore provision to depress the shift key bar must be made so that the depression is maintained for the period selected for that particular type form. This is accomplished by using a double step relay similar to the type described in the application Serial No. 746489 filed October 2, 1934, the following brief description of which will be sufficient.

Energization of magnet 25 causes its armature 40 and associated arm H to rotate cam wheel 26 so that its high surface forces contact blade 21 in engagement with contact 28, keeping the said contacts closed to energize the shift solenoid CM|C and/or CM2C4C (the method of selecting the particular solenoid or solenoids to be described hereinafter) depending on the particular typewriter operated. The said solenoid remains energized so long as the contacts 21 and 28 are closed, obviously printing the rec-;-

crds in the same case during this period.

Engagement of the sensing brush CA-l or CL--i with another corresponding perforation energizes the magnet 25 thereby stepping the cam wheel 26 ahead to permit the contact blade 21 to engage a lower surface of the cam wheel to disengage the contacts 21 and 28 deenergizing the particular shift key bar solenoid. The slotted cam wheel 26 is provided with half the number of slots as there are teeth in ratchet 42, for example, if the ratchet has twenty teeth and cam wheel 26 half that number of high surfaces, it is obvious that a single operation of the magnet 25 will close and maintain the contacts 21 and 28 closed and a second energization of the magnet will permit the contacts to resume the position shown in the figure.

Individual typewriter operation ing type bars.

Referring to Fig. 1Let it be assumed that the perforated rolls AR and LR are placed on the corresponding feed rollers i0 and II so that when the motor i2 is energized the perforated roll AR is introduced between its corresponding sensing brushes PA and CA and the conducting roller l0 and that the perforations are located so that the typewriters T-i to T-4 are oper ated independently and in succession. Upon the completion of the independent operation of the typewriters, the motor i2 will be de'energized and motor i3 energized to feed its perforated roll LR to the corresponding brushes PL and CL to control the plurality of typewriters simultaneously.

Upon momentary depression of the start key SK, grounded battery i4 is connected to coil of relay AR-i through conductor l5, start key contacts SK-i, conductor I6 to ground, e'nergizing said relay and locking itself through its contact ARC- 2 as follows; grounded battery ll to coil of relay ARI, contacts now closed, conductor I! and normally closed contact LRB-i of relay LR-l to ground.

Contact ARC-l of relay AR is also closed by energization of. the said relay to conduct current from grounded battery It to motor l2 and ground, causing the perforated roll AR to be fed to the sensing brushes PA and CA cooperating therewith.

Normally closed contact ARB-l of relay AR-l is opened upon energization of this relay, the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter.

Assume now that a perforation is sensed by the control brush PA-l, current is then conducted from grounded battery l4 through common conductor IB, coil of relay TR-l, conductor l9, its associated brush PA-l, conducting roller HI to ground via contact 20 adapted to engage said roller constantly, energizing relay TR-I. A locking circuit for this relay is established through its now closed contact TRB-I by connecting grounded battery It through conductor l8, coil of relay 'I'R-l, its contact TRB-l, common return conductor 2i, normally closed contact LRC -9 of relay LR--I, conductor 22, normally closed contacts TED-4, 3, 2 and contactTRCl of relay TR--l now closed to ground. "Contact TRAI of relay TR-l is also closed so that by virtueof thejconnection from grounded battery and conductor l8 to its corresponding armature, the character magnets CM-l of typewriter T- -l 'can now be energized when the corresponding character sensing brushes CA engage a perforation in the controlling roll AR, since closure of the said contact TRA-l permits the energization of magnet TM-l throu h the connected conductor 34 thereby closing its contacts TMCI disposed in the individual character magnet circuits.

It must be understood that the control brushes PA sensing its corresponding perforation are adapted to engage the conducting roller Ill long enough to permit the corresponding TR relays and LR-J relay to be energized and establish its corresponding locking circuit to maintain continuous energization of the particular relay.

Upon completion of the type record of typewriter Tl, a similar control perforation is sensed by control brush PA--2 to energize and lock relay TR-Z in a manner similar to that explained for relay TRI.

It is to be noted that energization of relay TR.-2 causes relay TR-I to be deenergized,.

that is the locking circuit of relay 'I'R--l thru its contact TRB-l is broken momentarily by the movement of the armature engaging the normally closed contact TRD--2, from this said contact to contact TRC-2. It will be remembered that the holding circuit was established through conductor 2!, contacts LRC9, conductor 22, the TED-4, 3, 2 contacts and TRC-l contact to ground. Energization of TR-2 relay causes the armature associated with contact TED-4 to be attracted to contact THC-2, thereby momentarily breaking the locking circuit from relay TR-l causing its deenergization.

It is evident in order that the energization of one TR. relay causes the deenergization of any other TR relay energized it is necessary that the TRC contacts of the TR relays are closed before the TRB contacts are closed by their respective armatures. The adjustment of relay contacts in this manner are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be explained further.

Energization of relay 'I'Rr- 2 permits the independent operation of typewriter T-2 similarvision made for operation of the carriage shift key of the typewriters. In order to record both upper and lower case, it is obvious when upper case is desired that that key must remain depressed for that particular period. The following is what is now considered the preferred method, the carriage shift sensing brush CA-l engaging a perforation in roll AR indicating a desired shift of type case energizes the solenoid 25 to cause the cam wheel 26 to be rotated so that its high surface forces contact blade 21 in engagement with contact 28 which is fully described in aforementioned application, keeping said contacts closed to energize the carriage shift magnet CM-IC, CM-ZC, 3C or 4C depending on the selected TR relay and typewriter to be operated, by connecting grounded battery M to I the corresponding TRA contact, to its corre sponding CM magnets.

The carriage shift magnet remains energized so long as contacts 21 and 28 are closed, obviously causing the records to be printed in the same chosen case during this period. Engagement by carriageshift brush CA-l of another corresponding perforation indicating a desire to return to the former type case, causes the solenoid 25 to be energized thereby stepping the cam wheel 26 ahead to permit the contact blade 21 to engage a lower surface of the cam wheel to disengage the contacts 21 and 28 to deenergize the carriage shift magnet CM-IC, 2C, 30 or 4C.

Simultaneous typewriter operation Upon completion of the independent operation of typewriters T--| to T----@ or any desired plurality control brush PA-- engaging a perforation on roll AR causes current from grounded battery to be conducted through coil of relay LRl, energizing the relay and establishing a locking circuit as follows, grounded battery M, coil of relay LR-l, contact LRC-2 now closed, contact ARB| now closed and contact SR--| now closed to ground.

It should be stated here that the energization of LRl relay, opens its normally closed contact LRB-l to open the ground in the locking circuit for relay AR.|, thereby deenergizing re-. lay AR--I and restoring its contact ARE-l to its normally closed position as shown in the figure thereby completing the locking circuit traced for relay LR-l. It is obvious from the disclosure set forth and from the figure that the energization relay AR-| causes the deenerg zation of LR-l and vice versa.

Contacts LRCI and ARC-l of relays LR-I and AR| respectively, are adjusted so that they are broken at a definite timed period following the breaking of contacts LRC-2 and ARC-2 and the making of contacts LRB-l and ARB-l by their respective armatures so as to insure that when the motors l2 and I3 are deenergized by virtue of contacts LRC-l and ARC-4 opening the control brushes PA-5 and PL-l no longer engage the conducting rollers I0 and H.

Delaying the breaking of contacts LRC-l 'and ARC-l insures the rotatiQn of the perforated rolls AR and LR, by the motors, a

definite period during which the rolls are ad-. vanced so that the corresponding control brushes no longer engage the rollers through these said perforations.

Energization of relay LRr-rl causes its contacts LRC3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 tube engaged by their respective armatures. Engagement of contact LRC--8 by the movement of its armature from contact LRC-9 deenergizes the TR relay that was previously energized to permit operation of its typewriter. The breaking of the TR relay locking circuits was previously explained in connection with the operation of the TED contacts and needs no further discussion.

Closing of contacts LRC3, 4, 5, and 6 conducts current from grounded battery [4 by their corresponding conductors 30, 3|, 32 and 33 and conductors 34, 35, 36 and 31 to all the TM magnets of all the typewriters Tl to T-4, permitting the operation of all the typewriters simultaneously upon the respective engagement of the corresponding character sensing brushes CL r nected feed roller until the described locking cirand the conducting roller II.

At the completion of simultaneous operation of the typewriters, by virtue of control brush PL-l, energization of relay Alt-I can be establishedto repeat the operation of typewriters independently as disclosed hereinbefore. Energization of relay AR|, deenergizes relay LR-l and motor I3 and energizes motor l2 to feed the controlling roll AR for selective operation of the typewriters T-l to T--4.

It is obvious from the disclosure given that it is not necessary to select the typewriters T-l to T-4 in the order described, nor is it necessary to have all the typewriters operated independently before operating them simultaneously. Therefore it is possible to have continuous operation of the typewriters independently, selectively and simultaneously in any manner or order desired by having the control brushes PA and PL engage the perforations and. rollers accordingly.

If instead of switching from the roll LR back to the roll AR at the completion of the simultaneous operation of the typewriters, it is desired to stop the mechanism, a preferred method is as follows: Control brush PL-2 sensing a perforation'and engaging roller H energizes relay SR by conducting current from grounded battery i4 through its coil to ground through the said control brush. Energization of relay SR, deenergizes relayLRt by opening its looking circuit previously traced through normally closed contact SRI. As explained hereinbefore the motor I3 is permitted to rotate the perforated roll so that the last engaged perforation is clear of its associated brush.

Relay SR is deenergized'by part depression of start key SK to open the normally closed contacts SK-2. It is obvious when depressing the key SK to start the system disclosed relay SR is deenergized' thereby and the operating circuits are properly conditioned thereafter to effect automatic operation of the typewriters in accordance with the perforated control rolls AR and LR.

Single roll operation In Figure 2 it is shown how the arrangement in Fig. 1 can be controlled by a single common roll CR, additional control brushes PAS and I are used to transfer from relays AR to LR, and

for stopping the system at its completion of the operation, and for starting the motor. The additional circuits and their connections are shown and the relays and contacts common to both systems have the same designations, in this manner it will not be necessary to repeat in full the description which was set forth herelnbefore.

Let it be assumed that the perforated roll CR is placed on its feed roller 50 so that when its motor 5| is energized, the perforated roll is introduced between its sensing brushes CA and PA and the said roller, and that the perforations are located so that the typewriters T-l to T--4 are first operated independently and then operated simultaneously in the following manner.

Momentary depression of start key 52 (Fig. 2) energizes relay STR--l by closing its circuit from grounded battery l4 to energize the motor 5| through its contact STRC-Z connected directly to the said battery. This relay establishes a locking circuit from grounded battery I4 through the coil of the relay, contact STRCI now closed, normally closed contact FRC-Z to ground energizing and rotating the said motor and concuit is broken.

When the control brushes PA-I to PA-4 sense their corresponding perforations, the'corresponding 'I'R relays are energized to control the operation of the typewriters T--l to T4, similarly as described hereinbefore in connection with Fig. 1.

Upon completion of the independent typewriter operation control brush PA5 sensing a perforation energizes relay LR| and locks itself by grounded battery conducted thru the coil of the relay, its now closed LRC2, normally closed contacts ARBI and FRC-l to ground. The contacts LRC-3 to 6 now closed permit all the typewriters to .be operated in accordance with the perforations by virtue of the energization of the TM magnets from grounded battery M, the LRC--3 to 6 contacts, conductors 30, 3|, 32 and 33, conductors 34, 35, 36 and 31, coils of magnets TMI, 2, 3 and 4 to ground. The TM magnet contacts TMCI; 2, 3 and 4 remain closed to permit simultaneous operation of the typewriters until the locking circuit described for relay LR--I is broken.

Provision is made to be able to operate the typewriters selectively and independently during the simultaneous operation of the typewriters, so that at the completion of this independent operation, simultaneous operation can again be continued if so desired or the system can be stopped completely depending upon the predetermined perforated roll, as follows.

Engagement of a perforation by control brush PA6 allows current from grounded battery l4 to energize the coil of relay AR-l, locking itself through its own contact ARC-2, now closed contact LRBI, and normally closed contact FRC-3 to ground. Energization of relay ARI opened the locking circuit for relay LR-l at contact ARB-l to deenergize relay LR-I restoring its contacts to normal position thereby permitting the locking circuit for relay ARI to be established. It 'is evident that the TM magnets become de'energized upon deenergization of relay LR--l to open all the circuits to the character solenoids CM.

- Selective and independent operation of the typewriters controlled now by the TR relays can be effected depending upon the selection of the mi-run,

It has been shown how further energization of.

control brush PA operates relay .LR-l for simultaneous typewriter operation and concomitantly deenergi'zes relay AR-J.

Energization of the control brush PA-I operates relay FR-l to open its normally closed contacts FRC- -I, 2, and 3. The said contacts are opened to break the locking circuits previously described namely, the locking circuits for relays LR-I, or AR-l and STR-l.

A locking circuit for relay FR-l need not be providedsince a momentary break of the said normally closed contacts is all that is necessary to deenergize any of relays, LR-l or AR-l and STR,I previously energized.

Similarly, as'mentioned hereinbcfore, contact SPEC-'2 is adapted to be a slow break contact to insure the operation armors- 5| long enough to feed the perforated roll solthat its perforations just sensed are beyond the sensing position and the brushes PA orCA are no longer cooperating with' the corresponding perforations. Depression again of the start'key 52 looks the relayS'I'I-tl and energizes motor 5| to rotate 'the feed roller initiating another cycle of operation in accordance with the perforated roll CR.

It is evident from the description set forth that additional TR relays may be provided as shown with corres nding control brushes PA to control the simul aneous operation of selected groups of the typewriters as T -l T--2 and T-3 excluding T4 so that further selective simultaneous operation of the typewriters may be obtained.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of theinvention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its opera'tion may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore'to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a system of the class described, record control means, sensing means cooperating therewith, a pluralityof typewriters, individual control relays therefor, means to energize said relays, thevcircuit connections of said relays arranged so that the energization of one control relay de-energizes any orie or the other control relays which may have been energized, said relay maintained energized adapted to render the associated typewriter operative, and means associated with said typewriters controlled by the said sensing means to control the typewriter in accordance with the data sensed on said record control means.

2. In a system of the class described, record control means, sensing means cooperating therewith, a plurality of typewriters, controlling instrumentalities for said typewriters, individual control relays for said typewriters, means to energize said relays, the circuit connections of said relays arranged so that the energiz'ation of one control relay de-energizes any one of the other control relays which may have been energized, means adapted to connect said typewriter controlling instrumentalities to said sensing means, the said control relay maintained energized adapted tooperate the last named means of the typewriter associated with said control relay so as to control the said typewriter in accordance with the data sensed on said record control writer so as to be controlled in accordance with the data sensed by certain other of said sensing brushes, and other relay means operated to connect said individual typewriters in multiple to be controlled in unison by" the said sensing brushes in accordance with the data sensed.

WALTERS. LEMMON. AUSTIN ROBERT NOLL. 

